By Meg Deak
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Woolwich Observer

What might look like destruction at first is a carefully planned reset for ecosystems like prairies in Ontario. Prescribed burns improve prairie health, reduce wildfire risk and restore habitat. In Woolwich, the Elmira Nature Reserve is home to one of the only tallgrass prairies in the area. The Rare Charitable […]

By Tahira Noor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
New Canadian Media

Abiodun Adetu, founder of Naija Markets is elated as her recent July 4 event at Winnipeg’s iconic Forks marketplace was a huge hit. She juggled countless responsibilities—from coordinating nearly 100 vendors and driving promotional efforts to overseeing every last detail behind the scenes—to ensure the lively market ran seamlessly. “What […]

By Meg Deak
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Woolwich Observer

A single breach can devastate an entire livestock operation. For pork producers, the threat of highly contagious swine diseases entering a barn is a cause for anxiety. It is a reality that makes rigorous preventative cleaning and strict entry protocols the bedrock of modern farmed animal management. Enter Farm Health […]

By Maggie Macintosh
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Winnipeg Free Press

Concerned about injustice on their school jungle gym, St. Vital students spent months researching upgrades to make playgrounds more accessible for children in Manitoba. Darwin School is dismissed for the summer, but one of its teachers plans to resume an advocacy project after the break. “It’s not fair,” 12-year-old Selena […]

By Mike McKinnon
Atikokan Progress

Number that over-wintered in Mexico were up 64% The World Wildlife Foundation reports the Monarch butterfly population in Mexico in December of 2025 covered 2.93 hectares, an area sixty-four percent larger than they covered in 2024, and slightly ahead of the ten-year average (2.81 ha). That jibes well with what […]

“Life is difficult.” That is the first sentence in Chapter 1 entitled “Discipline” in the book The Road Less Travelled, written by M. Scott Peck and published in 1978. I was 18 years old then, and I had been following his every move after seeing him interviewed on television. I […]